Elgin council to leave seat vacant until '05

The Elgin City Council decided Wednesday that no one will fill the seat of council member Marie Yearman, who died in July.

After a series of closed-door discussions, the council has been unable to get a majority of its six members to support a single candidate and will leave the seat unfilled.

"We are hopelessly deadlocked," said Elgin Mayor Ed Schock.

Last month, the council received 32 applications for the job. Council members selected six finalists, a group of civic and business leaders that included two former council members.

"I thought we'd be able to arrive at some consensus, but we aren't," he said.

The council is required by law to fill the seat, but there is no mechanism to enforce the law and therefore no penalty for leaving it open, Schock said.

Yearman's seat will remain empty until 2005, the next general election, when it will be designated for a special two-year term.

The vacancy could cause some difficulties in voting, Schock said. Issues that require a "supermajority," such as annexation agreements, will now require yes votes from five of six members for approval.

The council also put off voting on whether to accept the matricula consular, a card issued by the Mexican government, as a valid form of identification.

The card is available to Mexican citizens with two forms of identification, such as an original birth certificate, Mexican passport, military ID or voter registration card.

The measure will likely come up for a vote at the next council meeting Oct. 8.